Monday, March 30, 2015

When
the peasants revolt, the rulers often lose their heads. In the
fictional land of Grusinia, the Governor Abashvili (Max Gordon Moore)
and his wife Natella (Brenda Meaney) are swept up in the revolution and
in the ensuing fire and confusion their infant Michael is abandoned and
lost to them. Thanks to the quick thinking and compassion of a palace
kitchen maid Grusha (Shaunette Renee Wilson) who values life, rather
than Natella who puts her wardrobe above her son's well being, Michael
is rescued and is taken on a journey of danger and risk.

Bertolt
Brecht has penned this epic folk tale and courtesy of the Yale Repertory
Theatre, you can be swept away in its all encompassing drama, in "The
Caucasian Chalk Circle," until Saturday, April 11 at the University
Theatre, 222 York Street, New Haven.

The political regime in
Grusinia is being toppled and the Governor loses everything, up to and
including his head. With appreciation to the ever present and singing
narrator/storyteller Azdak (Steven Skybell), we are privy to all the
action, the disputes, the adventures, the conflicts, the battle of good
versus evil and the struggle for justice. This parable is long in the
telling, but filled with amazing scenic designs and unique special
effects, courtesy of Chika Shimizu, that make the odyssey more
enjoyable, like melting icicles and a perilous trek across a foot
bridge.

One moment Grusha is being wooed by the friendly soldier
Simon (Jonathan Majors) and the next she is putting her own life at risk
as she flees with the infant Michael in tow, trying to find a safe
place for them to hide. The blood thirsty Ironshirt soldiers are in
swift pursuit. All the turmoil has been set in motion by the Fat
Prince, the Governor's brother, (Jesse J. Perez) who causes the coup.

After
Grusha protects her "little burden," engaging in actions to unselfishly
shield him, like marrying a man Yussep (Aubre Merrylees) on his death
bed to give the baby a legitimate name, she finds herself in a court of
law. Natella has returned to claim her son and the vast estates that are
now his. A large chalk circle is drawn to establish his true parentage
and a crafty judge has the powers to sway the court's verdict.

Liz
Diamond directs this well crafted tale with hints of humor sprinkled
through the life threatening action, with original music by David Lang, musical direction by Daniel
Schlosberg, in this work translated by James and Tania Stern and W. H.
Auden.

For tickets ($20-99), call the Yale /Repertory Theatre at 203-432-1234 or online at www.yalerep.org. Performances are Tuesday to Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and occasional Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

Come
witness the drama of young Michael (Kourtney Savage and Fred Thornley
IV) being placed in the center of the chalk circle in a true King
Solomon moment in time.

Can you imagine life changing in one incredible moment in time, a moment
that will haunt for decades to come, coloring the future in black
clouds of guilt? For NFL Oakland Raider football star Frank Baker that
fateful minute came during an exhibition game
against the New England Patriots. Baker's tackle of Lyle Turner, while
perfectly legal, left both men's lives shattered. Baker, then at the
top of his game, never recovered his fame and position and Turner was
left in a wheelchair for life.

Let playwright David Robson place you firmly in the grips of this
powerful drama as years after the tragic event Frank Baker is called
upon to stand up and be a man and confront and apologize for his actions
on the football field in "Playing the Assassin."
TheaterWorks of Hartford will be squaring off in the intense drama until
Sunday, April 26.

Based on a true incident that occurred in 1978 when Oakland Raider star
Jack Tatum tackled New England Patriot wide receiver Daryl Stingley with
such force, Stingley never walked again. Here the action picks up two
and a half decades later when Frank Baker
is given a golden opportunity: CBS wants him for a pre-Super Bowl
interview where, for the first time, he will confront Lyle Turner on
air.

An eager-to-please young interviewer, Lewis, a calculating Garrett Lee
Henricks, has a script in his head for this revelatory confrontation,
His agenda is personal and prophetic and he has no room for variations
or changes when he encounters Baker, an imposing
and impassioned Ezra Knight. Baker has an agenda of his own: he wants a
stadium full of money and a chance to gain his self respect and
professional esteem back. His brutal attack on the turf had earned him
the name "The Assassin" and he has been haunted
by that encounter with Turner for seemingly forever, Now he believes
his life is finally changing for the better.

Trapped in a hotel room, working out negotiations and contracts, these
two strangers discover the parallels of their lives as secrets explode
and revelations reverberate, Like a prize fighting match, the two
circle and weave, strike out and retreat, knowing
only one can be declared winner. Director Joe Brancato keeps the action
and tension taut and the violence brewing just below the surface.

For tickets ($50-65, senior Saturday matinee $35, student rush $15),
call TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online
at www.theaterworkshartford.org.
Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday
and Saturday
at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. Come early to
view the dramatic photos of sports legends, players who changed the
game, in the art gallery upstairs, courtesy of The Hartford.

Get swept into the devastating verbal and physical encounter between two
men determined to put the past at rest by whatever means at their
disposal.

How hard is it to find the right recipe for romance? Just ask Giulia
Melucci who has tried, unsuccessfully, for years to lure the right man
from her culinary delights in her kitchen to the altogether different
pleasures of the bedroom. Her meals are delicious and savory, often
culled from her mother's Italian-American cookbook but while they
satisfy gastronomically, they fail to seal the deal that culminates in a
wedding ring.

The charming and versatile Giulia is being brought
to delectable life in the hands and hospitality of Maria Baratta as
she cooks up a fabulous feast right before your eyes in "I Loved, I
Lost, I Made Spaghetti," a memoir by Giulia that has been cleverly
adapted by Jacques Lamarre. Seven Angels Theater in Waterbury will be
cooking up a storm, with fresh pasta created from scratch, complete with
antipasto, salad, bread and wine, for a lucky select few, right on
stage, until Sunday, April 26.

Don't come to the show hungry,
unless you have a reservation at the nearest Italian restaurant close by
right after the curtain falls. All the action takes place in the
kitchen while Giulia chats, easily and hysterically, about the men in
her life, as she is preparing a complete meal. We meet thegentlemen
who one by one broke bread with her and then proceeded to break her
heart. From the young Irish bloke Steve whom she met in college to the
smarter and more sophisticated Kit who wrote for the Atlantic Monthly to
the older and wiser Marcus, a cartoonist for the New Yorker, with his
Vespa scooter and Charles Nelson Reilly voice to Ethan, a musician,
writer and TV producer who loved food a lot but not Giulia as much. She
even gave her heart temporarily to a Scotsman who had problems with
commitment.

As Giulia, Baratta voices each of her potential
soul mates with astute accuracy and charm, all the while chatting with
her mother by telephone, who wants to help and offer advice. Using her
culinary delights, her plan is to find true love over lasagna or
risotto. For every bad dates she endures and wrong turn she makes, you
will root for her to find her one and only. As she cooks, she tosses a
little salt over her shoulder, but, so far, it hasn't brought her luck
and rose petals.

Semina De Laurentis directs this delightful show
with characteristic sweetness while Daniel Husvar's kitchen set is the
perfect setting for all the steamy action.

Twirl a forkful of flavorful and perfectly seasoned pasta as you contemplate the perils and pleasures of the
New York City dating scene, where you can starve or feast surrounded by a banquet
of male offerings.

Monday, March 23, 2015

By day, these dedicated troupers are
teachers of third grade, special education, Spanish, math and reading,
full time students, IT specialists and managers, physical therapists,
parents, a dentist and one professional dancer. Under the direction and
encouragement of Darlene Zoller, they all become professional dancers
and the proof is in the pudding stirred to perfect confection in "DIGITS
Dig It!," a new show by the stop/time Dance Theater, the resident dance
company of West Hartford's Playhouse on Park.

Until Sunday,
March 29, this truly talented troupe will explode with energy and
enthusiasm and Cheshire Cat grins as they perform this show conceived,
directed and choreographed by Ms. Zoller. These dancers with a passion
for movement have willingly entered "Darleneland" and boy, do they have a
lot of rhapsody and rhythm to show for it.

With a theme of
digits as fingers, Zoller originally collaborated with composer and
pianist Sean Pallatroni, bouncing musical ideas as "a series of musical
puns" surrounding the number of things you can do with your hands.
Exploring the concept of one digit, two digits, three digits (well, you
get the idea), the pair worked out songs and numbers that fit the
concept. As Sean so quaintly put it, "God, I hope this works."

Fortunately
and fortuitously, work it does. Beginning with one as the "loneliest
number that there ever was," we meet a solitary dancer, Spencer Pond,
who initially delights in having studio time all to himself. He resents
the intrusion of other hoofers who disturb his privacy and he sends his
jazzy invaders scurrying away.

The two dozen ensuing numbers
include an original words and music by Sean Pallatroni that serenades
the Great White Way, with Rick Fountain crooning "King of Manhattan."
Victoria Mooney strikes an apologetic pose in Cole Porter's deliciously
irreverent "Miss Otis Regrets" about a woman who can't come to lunch
because she has shot her lover and has been punished, permanently.

For tickets ($25-35), call Playhouse on Park,
244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900, ext. 10 or online at
www.playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at
7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. (with a
talk back with the cast).

So whether your "life is just a bowl of
cherries," way "cool," or packed with "uptown funk," let the stop/time
Dance Theater show off their spectacular moves and grooves, jazz hands
and tap feet and all.

BRYAN ANTHONY WITH THE NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA
Whether you raised a pint of green beer in tribute or donned a green
shirt or tie, everyone is Irish on ST. Paddy's Day and Elim Park in
Cheshire planted shamrocks and four leaf clovers in honor of the
holiday. With the rousing music and foot stomping tunes
of The Kerry Boys, the rafters of Nelson Hall were raised a significant
foot or two on Friday, March 13 when these balladeers and troubadours
got the crowd singing and clapping about ramblers and gamblers, whiskey
and rye, celebrating wakes and gals like sweet
Molly Malone. A wee bit of Scotland crept in with sentimental songs
like Danny Boy while tunes like Wild Rover practically had the audience
levitating with joy.
If you missed this rousing tribute to St. Patrick, never fear, there's
lots more entertainment coming down the road, the high road and the low
road, and coming to Nelson Hall at Elim Park, 150 Cook Hill Road,
Cheshire for your listening pleasure. Baby Boomers,
it's your time for a musical salute when Squire and Louise come to
call. On Saturday, March 28 at 2 p.m., the joint will be jumping with
all the music, comedy and inspiration of the Boomer generation. Relive
those grand old days with two folks who know all
the buttons to push and tunes to sing and jokes to tell to make these
years come alive once more.
Get your entertainment calendar ready to mark the dates for Saturday,
April 11 at 2 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. when the Grand Ole Opry comes a
knocking. The Truck Stop Troubadours will open the country western song
book and let out all the timeless hits of that unique
part of the globe. A live band will jiggle and jive so fast that you'll
literally jump out of your seat as the rhythm gets your blood pumping
and your hands clapping and your feet kicking.
A change of pace will welcome Will and Anthony Nunziata, known
affectionately as the singing brothers of Broadway, as they carry the
audience From Broadway to Italy with a medley of hits that will
stimulate your memories and have you crooning along with these
two talented guys. They combine comedy and conversation with tunes like
"O Sole Mio" and "Somewhere," bridging the musical gap from Broadway to
the land of their ancestors. On Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m. and 7:30
p.m., you'll find yourself sailing across
the pond in a bevy of brilliant musical magic and mirth that will
transport you to heaven and back.
Ready to dance on your toes? Let the Connecticut Ballet sweep you away
on a glorious journey with Will Shakespeare as the famed dance troupe
presents A Midsummer Night's Dream in all its color and splendor on
Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. The Bard's classic
comedy of lovers sprinkled with fairy dust by a mischievous Puck and all
the misadventures that ensue is sure to delight audience members of all
ages. This is the ninth full length ballet produced by the company,
under the leadership of Artistic Director Brett
Raphael. An added bonus, you can meet the dancers in the lobby after the
show.
Hold on to your felt hats because there's more as the essence of Ol'
Blue Eyes comes to town with Bryan Anthony's smooth and elegant tribute
to the man himself in Celebrating Sinatra: His Life in Music. On
Saturday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. and again on Sunday, May
9 at 2 p.m., you will be entertained by this super performer who will
delight you, with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra accompanying him. He will
croon the tunes of Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Berlin and
Sammy Cahn, to name drop a few. The Great American
Songbook will be ablaze with memorable hits from "I've Got You Under My
Skin" to "Night and Day" to "All the Way."
For tickets, call Nelson Hall at Elim Park at 203-699-5495 for prices and more information.
Enjoy the variety of choices for a gala spring as Nelson Hall at Elim Park fills your dance and entertainment card.

This Mississippi gal taught
herself a passel of musical instruments, was an all-star basketball
player, a waitress, a receptionist, a barmaid, worked in a shoe factory
and kept her hairdresser license renewed every year in case she ever
needed it as a profession. Fortunately Tammy Wynette transformed herself
into "The First Lady of Country Music" and never looked back.

To
get up close and personal with Miss Wynette, born Virginia Wynette Pugh
in 1942, mosey on over to the Ivoryton Playhouse for a tasty morsel of
music history with "Stand By Your Man The Tammy Wynette Story" playing
until Sunday, April 5.

Tammy started singing early on at a
Mississippi radio show, raised by her mother, MeeMaw, a feisty Marcy
McGuigan, and marrying the first of her five husbands before she
graduated high school. As a country western singer and songwriter, she
never knew about instant stardom, but advanced up the charts with such
winning tunes as "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad," "D.I.V.O.R.C.E,"
"Stand By Your Man," "I Saw the Light," "We Go Together," "Did You Ever"
and "I Still Believe in Fairytales." She continued to record with her
third husband George Jones, a smooth crooning Ben Hope, long after their
stormy divorce.

They were known as the King and Queen of Country
Music and they made beautiful music together until they didn't. His
predilection for alcohol and her addiction to pain pills, due to her
multiple surgeries, took a toll on their marriage. Katie Barton's Tammy
captures the spirit of this intrepid singer who fought to achieve
stardom and to keep her daughters protected.

Mark St. Germain's
insightful musical provides glimpses into her complex, hard scrabble
life, one that follows step by step her circuitous route to the top of
the marquee. There were a number of salty tears and no happily ever
afters for this soulful star who struggles for every rung up on the
success ladder. Her life is chronicled from her early beginnings with a
perky young Tammy played by Lilly Tobin, and her relationships with the
many men in her life performed by Morgan Morse, Louis Tucci, Guy
"Fooch" Fischetti, Jonathan Brown, Eric Scott Anthony and Sam Sherwood.
All the men also comprise one jive jumping band, under the musical
direction of David M. Lutken, that make each tune terrific. This musical
biography of Miss Wynette is directed with spice by Sherry Lutken.

For
tickets ($42, senior $37, student $20, children $15), call the Ivoryton
Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivortyon at 860-767-7318 or online at
www.ivorytonplayhouse.org. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at
7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Come
watch how the "Love Bugs," Tammy and George Jones, are brought to
glorious life by real life wife and husband Katie Barton and Ben Hope.
They'd love you to come by and say "Howdy" and sit and listen a spell.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

What
do peanut shells and banana peels have to do with the movie "Gone With
The Wind"? Those meager pickings are all producer David O. Selznick
would allow his "kidnapped" writer and director to eat, peanuts and
bananas, while they solved a great conundrum: how to create a script of
the Margaret Mitchell book that was less than seven hours long.

The turbulence of the Civil War, an epic saga penned by
Mitchell, her one and only masterpiece, became "Gone with the Wind."
Translating its 1037 pages of romance and drama in the old South into a
four hour film by David O. Selznick, producer, ended up being ranked number 4 on the
100 Best American Films of All Time list of 1998. But how it came to pass, against great odds, is a unique story all
on its own.

To be privy to the inside scoop of how the movie came
to be written and splashed across the silver screen, ultimately to win
ten Academy Awards and be one of the highest grossing films of its time,
head over to the Connecticut Playmakers to see the frantic
slapstick comedy "Moonlight and Magnolias" by Ron Hutchinson Friday,
March 27 and Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m. at First Congregational
Church, 108 Sound Beach Avenue, Old Greenwich.

Producer David O. Selznick's career and reputation and future and fortune are all on the line. Every day it is costing him $50,000
to make a film that has no viable script. Fraught with obstacles, the project
to make "Gone with the Wind" is in tremendous trouble. He finally has a
cast, Vivien Leigh as his daunting and determined heroine Scarlett
O'Hara and Clark Gable as the dashing and enigmatic Rhett Butler, but
without a workable screenplay he has nothing.

Every script to
date is flawed, too long or not practical. Atlanta has to burn, the
Confederacy has to be defeated and Scarlett has to face surmounting
problems. Selznick (Adam Auslander) implores his good friend the
journalist Ben Hecht (David Pollard) to come to his rescue. Hecht,
who has never even read the book, reluctantly agrees to try. Locked in a
room for five days, with Selznick and his brand new director Victor
Fleming (Tim Cronin) acting out the plot, Hecht is forced to live on
peanuts and bananas and produce a masterpiece. How the trio survive
with the aid of the producer's faithful secretary Ms. Poppenghul (Tina
D'Amato) is a comic circus, under the deft direction of Dan Friedman.

For
tickets ($25), call the Connecticut Playmakers at 203-249-5419 or
online at www.ctplaymakers.org.
Performances are Friday and
Saturday at 8 p.m. This is a cabaret setting, so bring goodies to share
at your table. Come witness this plucky Connecticut community theatre
group that has produced 225 Broadway hits over its 67 year history in
the Greenwich area.

Make your plans now to have "Dinner with
Disney" that will take you on a musical journey of Disney songs for the
last 75 years. Come hear tunes from such hits as "The Lion King,"
"Aladdin," "Snow White," "The Jungle Book," "Frozen," "Tarzan" and
"Cinderella," to name a few. Bring your kids and your dinner on Friday
and Saturday, May 8 and 9, 15 and 16 and 22 and 23 at 8 p.m. and Sunday,
May 17 and 24 at 2 p.m.

You'll surely want to
rent a DVD of this classic film once you witness the behind-the-scenes
shenanigans that unbelievably led Ben Hecht, "the Shakespeare of
Hollywood," to succeed where so many others before him had failed. All
David O. Selznick wants is one great movie before he dies and without
becoming a monkey's uncle he manages to pull off the trick of the
century.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Do you have a young budding Neil Simon or Will Shakespeare living at
your home? If so, maybe he or she is a finalist in the Hartford Stage's
Young Playwrights for Change Competition held during the month of
January in Hartford. Three free workshops were conducted
at the Hartford Stage Education Center, 942 Main Street, Hartford for
middle schoolers from Connecticut and neighboring states of
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

The contest question was "What is Family?" and students were encouraged
to explore situations about single parents, biracial, adopted, gay and
lesbian and blended families and their home life, 8-10 pages in length,
and last 10 minutes on stage. The top four
plays will have a staged reading by Hartford Stage's Youth Studio and
Adult Acting Classes. The free performances will take place Saturday,
March 21 at 2 p.m. at the Classical Magnet School, 85 Woodland Street,
Hartford.

Winning top honors is Daniel Coppinger, an eighth grader at the Henry
James Memorial School in Simsbury. His play, "Who is My Family?" focuses
on a 13 year old boy from Korea being raised by a Caucasian mother and
father. He questions where and how he belongs.
Coppinger's entry will be included in an anthology with other regional
winners. He used his own personal experiences as an adopted child to
inform his play. Although never having written a play before, he "is
happy to know that my hard work has paid off."

Other students from the Henry James Memorial School in Simsbury took
honors for second and third place, Kevin Kurian, an eighth grader, for
his play
Promise" and Lindsay Madigan, an eighth grader, for her play, "Coming
Together." Another eighth grader, Carter K. Brown, from the Sage Park
Middle School in Windsor, won an honorable mention for her play "Sky
Blu."

This is the second year of this national competition that encourages
young students to develop their writing skills. Ashley Baker, Resident
Teaching Artist at Hartford Stage, coordinated this literary effort.
Come and cheer on these enterprising youth as they
exercise their growing talents as writers.
Perhaps one day in the not so distant future the Hartford Stage will
raise the curtain on one of their creative works as a world premiere.

The
twilight years are not the easiest time of life for many. Parts we've
always counted on, like legs and eyes and ears, don't always work the
way we want them to function. Memories dating back decades or mere
minutes become problematic. We enter a room with a specific motive or
goal in mind and can't remember it worth a fig. For Ethel and Norman
Thayer, their summer home in New England has been a refuge and source of
comfort for almost five decades. They've raised their daughter Chelsea
there and delighted in watching the seasons evolve.

Now the
Thayers are changing quicker than the summer skies. In Ernest
Thompson's poignantly simple and bittersweet love story "On Golden
Pond," we find ourselves enscounced in lawn chairs at that summer house,
listening to the loons on the lake, and enjoying the tart-tinged
squabbles that pop up between the pair thanks to Darien Arts Center
Stage weekends until Sunday, March 22.

The years are creeping up
on Norman. He will soon celebrate his eighth year while Ethel is a spry
seventy. The sharp minded professor who taught English at the
University of Pennsylvania is now experiencing bouts of forgetfulness.
How many more years will he be able to make this annual summer
pilgrimage? Affectionately called an old poop by Ethel, a sincerely
caring Nancy Sinacori, Will Jeffries' Norman is sure this will be his
last summer on the lake. Their wonderful banter and bickering is
delightful to be witness to as they repeat the traditions that have made
the lake so significant in their married lives. David Eger's
comfortable cottage set adds to the ambiance as does the happy chirping
of birds and calls of the loons.

Daughter
Chelsea, a vibrant Kitty Robertson, sweeps into the cottage with her
dentist fiance Bill, a straight arrow Eric Dino, in tow, as well as his
teenage son Billy, a chipper kid who is ready for new adventures.
Chelsea and Bill have one foot on the departure gate to Europe and want
the older folks to babysit Billy for the duration. The rocky
relationship between Norman and his uninvited house guest mellow in a
fishing boat on Golden Pond as well as through books that Norman brings
to Billy's interest and attention.

In a strange way, Norman and
Billy pave the way for years of conflict to be resolved between father
and daughter, as they forgive and forget and make amends for past
difficulties and disappointments. Will Jeffries leads this talented cast
as the fixed in his ways Norman who often favors fish over humans.
Patrick Kiley directs this gentle tale with a tender hand. An extra dose
of down home Maine humor is provided by David Jackins as Charlie, long
time admirer of Chelsea and loyal post office delivery man. Holy Mackinoli!

For
tickets ($20), call the Darien Arts Center Stage, 2 Renshaw Road,
Darien (exit 11 off I-95, behind the Darien Town Hall) at 203-655-5414
or online at www.darienarts.org. Performances are Friday and Saturday at
8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Let this lovely waltz of a play lure
you in and catch your heartstrings as Norman and Ethel continue the
dance steps they have perfected over the decades, even if they
occasionally miss a beat or two.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

The future of a boy is in question. The fate of a priest is under
scrutiny. The certainty of an accusing nun is startlingly evident. All
of these are judge and jury in New Haven Theater Company's current
offering, John Patrick Shanley's involving drama "Doubt" playing
Thursday to Saturday this week at their new home, the English Building
Markets.

What is not in doubt is the sincerity and enthusiasm of the New Haven Theater Company.

Through
many iterations of this plucky group since it was founded in the 1990's
by T. Paul Lowry, the NHTC has changed and modified itself to
accommodate its members. Now fifteen members strong and numbering
entrepreneurs (at least two), an arts administrator, a lawyer, a retired
reading teacher, a scientist, marketing managers, a current teacher and
a former professional actor, the present version has strengthened and
solidified its structure over the last six years.

Once T. Paul
Lowry left New Haven for Chicago, the initial group was forced to
reinvent itself. According to Peter Chenot, one of those original
members, by 2009 "we have assembled a team that has stayed intact. It's
a labor of love. The people involved in NHTC respect and love each
other a lot. They bring their own life experiences to the process."
Peter has just accepted a new position with Westport Country Playhouse
and he and his wife Megan are intimately involved with the day-to-day
functionings of the group.

Everyone by necessity wears a variety
of hats, like the director of "Doubt" George Kulp and his star nun,
Margaret Mann as Sister Aloysius, who found themselves painting the
floor of the stage on Tuesday night, preparing it for the debut
performance last Thursday.

While NHTC has a history of being a
site-specific theater, moving the performances to a space that fits with
the play's action, like office and real estate buildings and banks, it
is delighted to have a new place to call home. Thanks to the generosity
of Carol and Robert Orr, the English Building Markets at 839 Chapel
Street, New Haven is its intimate location. It's not often you can walk
through a cluttered consignment shoppe, past china, furniture, artwork
and jewelry, past racks of vintage clothing and shoes and discover a
small forty seat theater in the back. A bonus is you get to window shop
before and after the show and maybe take home a new bauble or bead.

One
of the most amazing facts about NHTC, according to Steve Scarpa, whose
day job is as Director of Marketing and Communications at Long Wharf
Theatre, is "there are no egos here. We are 15 equals from all walks of
life and we work together with great trust. We get to try all avenues
of theater life, like designing and writing. We really engage with the
show we are doing to create the perfect format for what we want to do."

With
"Doubt," the suggestion to do it was made by Steve and put forth for a
group discussion, with ways to approach it discussed and by democratic
process it was voted to do it. The fact that Scarpa was an altar boy in
his youth and was now going to play Father Flynn was just an added
bonus. "Doubt" focuses on Father Flynn and whether or not he is guilty
of an inappropriate relationship with Donald Muller, a 12 year old, the
first African- American boy who has ever been admitted to St. Nicholas
School. The time is 1964.

Margaret Mann's Sister Aloysius is
stern, pious and unbending as the principal whom all the students fear.
She cautions the naive and eager-to-please Sister James, a sweet and
innocent Mallory Pellegrino, that she needs more starch in her spine.
She urges Sister James to spy on Father Flynn and confirm her
convictions. As she states unequivocally, "I will bring him down." Her
vigilance is her guardian. After all, Father Flynn writes with a ball
point pen, has long finger nails, takes three sugars in his tea and
likes Frosty the Snowman. These are all evidence of his guilt. She
even seeks the counsel of Donald's mother, a concerned and caring Aleta
Staton, to stand with her in her judgmental accusations.

As for
whether or not Father Flynn is guilty or innocent, the playwright leaves
the question open for personal interpretation. Early on in the
rehearsal process, director George Kulp met with his Father Flynn, Steve
Scarpa, and they discussed "how to approach his part and what it was
about." They refused, however, to discuss it with me. If you see
"Doubt," you'll have to decide on your own.

Next up in May is a
new play "The Cult" by the company's resident playwright Drew Gray. He
describes it as "a comedy about a young man with a regular office job
who happens to run a cult in his off hours. It's humane, unique and
funny." Other members of NHTC include Donna Glen, Erich Greene (stage
manager for "Doubt"), Ally Kaechele (board operator for "Doubt"), Deena
Nicol, Christian Shaboo, J. Kevin Smith and John Watson.

In the
final tally, what has never been in doubt, clearly, is the fact that
NHTC's goal is to put on a really good show and earn enough money to pay
the rent...to produce excellent theater for theater's sake and to have
fun in the process.

Monday, March 9, 2015

What could be more entertaining than watching a cable access television
show "Baking with Babcha?" So what if Babcha rambles with a Russian
accent and has a strong affinity for her liquid cooking ingredients like
vodka and bourbon? Her borscht and cabbage
rolls are to die for. With her son Stephen as her enthusiastic
producer, it's a downright shame Babcha is being cancelled.

You're invited to be in the audience for that final broadcast as
Connecticut Cabaret Theatre presents "The Kitchen Witches" by Caroline
Smith weekends until Saturday, April 11. You never know what might
happen. It's live television after all. Babcha, who
is really Dolly Biddle, just might have her Last Ukranian Supper
interrupted by her mortal enemy and rival chef Isobel Lomax, better
known as Izzy to her friends.

These ladies duel with ladles, rolling pins and wooden spoons at thirty
paces when Izzy shows up uninvited in Dolly's television kitchen. The
two exchange verbal volleys of insults that have been brewing over three
decades of enmity. It seems Izzy stole Dolly's
husband Larry and showed him a lot of her secret family recipes.

Fortunately or not, their cutthroat antics on camera excite the show's
producers as well as the viewing audience and soon the two rivals find
themselves sharing a ceramic cooking counter on air. They are quickly
sabotaging each other's concoctions, fighting
over dressing rooms and playing one upsmanship on stage. Poor Stephen,
an infinitely patient James J. Moran, is caught in the crossfire.
Kristin Ceneviva is terrific as the tippling diva Dolly while Barbara
Horan's Isobel is great as she plans to whisk her
way to the top of the meringue any way she can. Linda Kelly enters and
exits with an applause sign with aplomb. Director Kris McMurray plays
head chef with culinary and comic skills.

For tickets ($30), call CT Cabaret Theatre, 31-33 Webster Square Road, Berlin at 860-829-1248 or online at www.ctcabaret.com. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7:15
p.m. Desserts and drinks are available at the concession stand or bring your own goodies.

Spices can be sweet, salty or savory but with Dolly and Izzy they can be
all three as these long term rivals set their cooking show "The Kitchen
Witches" on fire with flames of fun and frivolous frivolity.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Choices
and opportunities are abundant for many and , unfortunately, sparse for
others. Seeing possibilities is an excellent first step in finding
your way forward and upward. Where you are born, with or without that
silver spoon, can influence your future, encouraging or limiting your
options.

Just ask Margaret Walsh, a scrappy and feisty graduate
of "Southie," the South Boston's Lower End, who can't escape her
birthplace no matter how hard she struggles. In David Lindsay-Abaire's
steel boned 2011 play "Good People," he allows us to see Margie, warts
and all, as she valiantly tries to make a better life for herself and
for her adult disabled daughter Joyce. The Square One Theatre Company
will present this play weekends until Saturday, March 21.

The
stars have seemingly all aligned against Margie, beautifully captured in
Janet Rathert's capable hands. The blue collar Boston neighborhood
Margie calls home has plotted and conspired to hold her down. Never
having finished high school, because of an unwanted pregnancy, this
single mom has limited resources and even those are in danger of drying
up.

As a cashier in a Dollar Store, she relies on her friends
Jean (Danielle Sultini) and Dottie (Alice McMahon) for moral support.
Dottie also babysits because Joyce can't be left alone. Now, her too
frequent tardinesses have caused her boss Stevie (Darius James Copland)
to fire her. Her salary, although barely minimum wage, has been keeping
a roof over her head, as Dottie is also her landlord.

Homelessness is soon added to her list of terrors.

Just
when the day seems darkest, her friend Jean tells Margie she has just
bumped into their old Southie pal Mike (Brian Michael Riley) at a
fundraising event and he is now a successful doctor. Maybe Mike will be
Margie's knight in shining armor and rescue her with a job. After all,
the two dated for a few months back in high school days. Their history
should count for something.

Watch how Margie tries to make Mike
and his new wife, a lovely African-American Kate (Jessica Myers), hand
her a winning lottery ticket. Can she force them to change her luck?
Does Mike owe her anything from the past? Can Margie use sabotage and
blackmail to manipulate the odds to her advantage? Will the fact that
Mike always was "good people" work in her favor? Tom Holehan directs
this dark comedy that will tug on your heartstrings as you alternately
applaud and cringe at Margie's tactics, as she risks everything for a
new beginning.

For tickets ($20, students and seniors $19), call
Square One Theatre Company, 2422 Main Street, Stratford at 203-375-8778
or online at www.squareonetheatre.com. Performances are Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. with an additional

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Now
that the Oscars have all been given out, it's time to turn your movie
loving mind to a new flavor and genre. Luckily the Jewish Film
Festival is poised to fill that gap in your entertainment schedule.
Start buttering your popcorn so you'll be be ready to go from Thursday,
March 12 to Sunday, March 22 as the Jewish Film Festival presents 19 new
hits for your viewing pleasure. Hailing from ten countries like
France, Belgium, Israel, Germany, America, the Czech Republic and
Canada, the films will be screened at 7 venues across Hartford and West
Hartford. Many of the offerings are making their Connecticut or east
coast premieres and many are tied to special events like dinners and
breakfasts and opportunities to hear and see authors, filmmakers,
academics and performers.

According to Harriet Dobin, the
Director of the Mandell Jewish Community Center Jewish Film Festival,
this is the 19th year of the Festival and over 5000 people are expected
to attend, and not just a Jewish audience. The films are timely and
relevant for a broad gathering. The festival began with an initial
collaboration between the Mandell JCC, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of
Art and Trinity College. Each year up to 100 full length features,
shorts and documentaries are submitted from all over the world and first
Ms. Dobin and then a committee selects the final listing.
Approximately 150 comparable Jewish Film Festivals are held in the USA,
Canada and across the globe.

As Harriet Dobin explains it, "At
one time this festival was just FOR the Jewish community. We've evolved
and placed great emphasis on becoming a festival ABOUT Jews. We branch
out into commercial theaters like Bow Tie Cinemas Blue Back Square,
Spotlight Theatres and Bow Tie Cinemas Palace 17, the new Infinity Music
Hall and Bistro, as well as our own theater at the Mandell JCC, the
Herbert Gilman Theater, and two synagogues, Emanuel Synagogue and Beth
El Temple. We have a very demanding audience who have come to expect
only the most superb films. We're part of a great big world and that's
what we want the festival to reflect."

The event will begin with a
musical tribute to Sophie Tucker, a native daughter known for her
booming voice, her contributions for six decades to musical theater and
as "the Last of the Red Hot Mamas." Hartford's new Infinity Music Hall
and Bistro will host the grand opening, a 5:30 p.m. dinner reception and
7:30 p.m. Live Cabaret featuring the winner of a Sophie Tucker singing
contest, Colleen Welsh, from the Hartt School, University of Hartford,
performing with her pianist Paul Feyer. The new film "The Outrageous
Sophie Tucker" will tell the tale of the woman who paved the way for so
many other stars, from her start in her family's small kosher restaurant
to performing in burlesque, films and television, for presidents and
even for royalty in England. The film and performance will be open
captioned for the deaf and hearing impaired in the community.

Filmmakers
and authors Susan and Lloyd Ecker will give a Reel Talk, about their
experiences producing the movie, over dessert. On the couple's first
date back in 1973, they attended a Bette Midler concert where she shared
stories about Sophie Tucker on stage. That sent the Ecker's on an
odyssey to research Tucker and learn about her life and career through
400 scrapbooks and countless interviews over an eight year period.
Tickets are $75 and boas and bows, sparkles and spangles are the
optional Roaring Twenties fun attire. If you can't make the grand
evening, on Friday, March 13 at 10 a.m, there will be a Talking Tucker
brunch (no film) at the Mandell JCC, $20, as well as on the festival's
last day, a film showing on Sunday, March 22 at noon at the Mandell JCC,
with tickets $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Call 860-231-6316 or
go online to www.hjff.org or tickets@mandelljcc.org for a full schedule
of showings.

How about a trip to France without packing a bag or
getting a passport. "It Happened in Saint-Tropez" is your ticket, with
a reception. Want intrigue, then enter the world of Bruce Sundlun who
survived being shot down in Belgium in World War II, followed by a Reel
Talk. Need a little inspiration, then travel with teenage Mica who
pledges to honor his grandfather and the country, Cuba, that saved him
during the Holocaust in "Havana Curveball." Learn about Hannah Cohen's
desire for a Holy Communion despite the fact she's definitely not
Catholic.

Prepare to be wonderfully entertained when the iconic
and beloved Theodore Bikel is "married" to the magical words of Sholem
Aleichem, the famed Yiddish storyteller in "Theodore Bikel: In the Shoes
of Sholem Aleichem." Ever wonder what it might be like to serve as a
woman in the Israeli Army then "Zero Motivation" is for you. Have you
ever searched your family's history to try to find yourself? If so,
you'll want to go on "Hanna's Journey." Imagine creating a euthanasia
machine for your aging friends and watch "The Farewell Party" for
insights into the end of life issues.

Time for a nosh, like a
thick corned beef on rye with a half sour pickle? Come meet the "Deli
Man" and learn the history of Jews in a culinary tour across America.
Ready for a change of pace, to suspenseful thriller and a compelling
example of anti-semitism and terror. Look no further than "24 Days:
The True Story of Ilan Halimi Affair." Follow a ten year old boy as he
escapes the Warsaw Ghetto in "Run Boy Run," that will be accompanied by
talks with the Hartford Stage and their upcoming production of "The
Pianist of Willesdan Lane." Change the pace with the tale of two
cousins in "The Go Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films." Travel
with Eyad, a Muslim boy, who wins a place as the first Arab in a
prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem in "Dancing Arabs" and learn
how he struggles to adjust.

In "Berlin Calling," a father and
daughter retrace the dad's difficult days in World War II and discover
realities they never dreamed possible. Two lonely souls connect in
"Felix and Meira" with a forbidden love dictated by religious
differences. History buffs will enjoy "The Prime Ministers, Part
Two-Soldiers and Peacemakers" as it follows Prime Ministers Rabin and
Begin. A childless couple enters into a strange arrangement with a
young Jewish refugee they are hiding in "Closed Season." The final film
tells the story of volunteer pilots and how they helped win the War of
Independence in "Above and Beyond-The Birth of the Israeli Air Force"
that includes a Reel Talk and reception. This event is $25. For tickets
to any or all of these fine films, call 860-231-6316 or go online at
www.hjff.org for the full schedule and locations.

Don't let this
fascinating array of movie offerings escape your attention. As the
snows of winter hopefully melt in our collective memories, go to the
movies for excitement, entertainment, inspiration and warmth.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Everyone experiences moments of being alone and lonesome. If those
moments, however, linger for months and even years, that emotional state
can sink you into depression. Such is the fate of 35 year old Jonathan
who has lost his life partner Gabriel in a tragic
incident, one that Jonathan can't erase or forget. His world is now
permanently colored in dark shadows that cause him fear and
unhappiness.

In his world premiere play "Reverberation," playwright Matthew Lopez is
inviting you to enter into Jonathan's state of being and become up
close and personal with its realities. Ready or not, fortified with
prozac or zoloft, the Hartford Stage is unmasking
this psychological conundrum until Sunday, March 15.

Luke McFarlane's Jonathan does not easily share his secrets. He holds
them close to his chest and guards them fiercely. If he isn't
illustrating greeting cards of sympathy, he is indulging in alcohol,
working out or surfing the web for casual male sex partners.
Suddenly his new upstairs neighbor, in his cluttered Astoria, Queens
apartment created in great detail by Andromache Chalfant, literally
clomps into his life over his protestations. It seems her breezy outlook
on life will bring his existence both hope and
promise.

Aya Cash's Claire is eternally sunny and just what the psychiatrist
would order for Jonathan's wounded soul. With her whimsical nature and
his solid physical stability, they bring a freshness to their new
friendship and it appears for a precious moment in
time that their mutual needs can be met.

Bookending Claire's arrival is Wes, a young and eager-to-please boy toy
captured in his sincere naivety by Carl Lundsfelt. His appearance,
before Claire arrives and again after Claire and Jonathan reach a
certain plateau in their relationship, causes a ripple
in the lake, much like a stone sent skipping, with endless circles of
reverberations. Maxwell Williams directs this brutally honest and often
disturbing punch of reality with a steady hand.

For tickets ($25 and up), call the Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford at 860-527-5151 or online at www.hartfordstage.org. Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday at 7:30
p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Be prepared for explicit sexual permissiveness as Jonathan struggles to surface from his spiritual drowning.

If you're unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the definitely
worst time and witness a murder, there may not be a good spot to hide.
Just ask that wannabe cabaret lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier (Kerissa
Arrington) who finds herself in just that pickle
and predicament. Now her boyfriend's gang is after her and the best
place for the police to hide her is just what William Shakespeare might
have suggested. Deloris is told to "get thee to a nunnery."For three fabulous performances, Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m. and Saturday,
March 7 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., the Palace Theater in Waterbury will have
the rosary beads ready for their newest novitiate as "Sister Act" comes
to town. Just what Mother Superior (Maggie
Clennon Reberg) thinks of her latest charge is immediately evident.
She's suspicious.At the Holy Order of the Little Sisters of Our Mother of Perpetual
Faith, Deloris has become Sister Mary Clarence and reluctantly gives up
her vices like smoking, drinking, dancing and suggestive clothing. With
the help of perky and peppy Sister Mary Patrick
(Sarah Michelle Cue), Deloris gets indoctrinated into her new life and
uses her previous life as a disco singer to inject the order's anemic
sounding choir with new vigor and vitality.This lively musical written by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner and Douglas
Carter Beane, with lyrics by Glenn Slater and music by Alan Menken is
based on the hit 1992 film comedy of the same name. Of course,
eventually the gang traces Deloris down and invades her
solemn hiding place. Glorious songs like "Take Me to Heaven," "Spread
the Love Around" and "Raise Your Voice" send melodies heavenward.For tickets ($45-65), call the Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at www.palacetheaterct.com.

Before the Friday, March 6, evening performance,Riverhouse
Catering
will prepare a 6 p.m. pre-fixe, four-course dinner in the Palace’s Poli
Club, located on the mezzanine level of the theater. Dinner is $62.50
per person, which includes tax, service fees, coffee, and tea. A cash
bar is also available and the menu can
be viewed in advance at www.palacetheaterct.org/dining. Seating
is limited and reservations can be made when purchasing tickets through the Box Office.

Let Deloris and the Good
Sisters entertain you with their angelic voices as chaos invades the
religious order and justice is at stake. Hear the rafters ring with
joy.

Imagine two sisters who didn't speak for ten years when their mother
gave a quilt she had made to one sibling, forgetting she had promised it
to the other. Meet a daughter who devotedly cared for her mother for
years who was heartbroken when her father gave away her mom's prized
diamond ring, in what he thought was a fair distribution of her jewelry.
Her brother got the ring and gave it to his wife. Neither the brother
nor his spouse ever helped during the mother's lengthy illness. Another
brother and sister fought over their mother's prized china. The sister
won it and spitefully kept it in boxes in the attic. They haven't
spoken in years.

Do you know any similar tales of controversy
where the desire for a family's prized possession caused chaos and a mad
scramble to establish bragging rights? Enter Joshua Harmon who has
crafted a provocative look into family dynamics in "Bad Jews" being
harpooned with wit and barbs at Long Wharf Theatre's Stage II until
Sunday, March 29.

A beloved grandfather, Poppy, has died and the
family is about to sit shiva, a period of mourning Jews observe to help
adjust to their great loss. Poppy's grandchildren arrive to stay with
Jonah at his New York City apartment, one that even commands a view of
the Hudson River from the bathroom. His cousin Diana, now calling
herself Daphna in preparation for her aliyah, a permanent move, to
Israel arrives with an agenda carved in stone: she is the only one
worthy of inheriting Poppy's necklace, a chai meaning life, which he
kept hidden while in the death camps during the Holocaust.

Keilly
McQuail's Daphna is outstanding in her combative stance, a David ready
to take on any Goliath, demanding and compelling, judgmental without the
fairness of a King Solomon, equally parts selfish, offensive and
admirable in her righteousness. Max Michael Miller's Jonah is mild
mannered and basically neutral like Switzerland. He needs to mourn his
grandfather in peace and wants to avoid conflict at all costs. When his
brother Liam, a defensive Mike Steinmetz, arrives, after the funeral is
over if you can believe it, bringing his non-Jewish girlfriend Melody
in tow, Jonah is suddenly the judge and jury between the two cousins.
In his own mind, Liam believes Poppy had decreed the chai to be his. He
plans to gift it to Melody, a sweetly naive Christy Escobar, as an
engagement present, just as Poppy had given it to his wife decades
before. Pick a side as tempers flare and fire and Oliver Butler directs
this thought stimulating comedy with a golden chain of darkness.

For tickets ($74.50), call Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven at 203-787-4282 or online at www.longwharf.org.
Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.,
Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and
Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Whatever your family or religious
observances, "Bad Jews" will speak to you, as it escalates from
sympathetic remembrances to venomous attacks, all quicker than you can
spread cream cheese on an onion bagel.